Existing commercial aircraft and other Fly-By-Wire vehicles have been demonstrated to be vulnerable to terrorist attacks, autopilot malfunctions, unauthorized usurpation of control, and use by authorized pilots for unauthorized uses. A multitude of scenarios may arise that subject pilots and passengers within the vehicle and other third parties to vulnerabilities. The multitude of scenarios that may cause drastic failure of a vehicle indicate the need for a customizable system of checks and balances between persons and systems authorized to control said vehicles.
The present invention may provide a customizable system that utilizes manual systems and methods for navigation of a Fly-By-Wire vehicle in conjunction with other relevant systems and methods for navigation that are automated. In an exemplary embodiment the invention may utilize a host of electronic systems to reduce the multitude of security vulnerabilities that passengers, pilots, crewmembers, cargo, and third parties are subjected to by existing aviation practices. A wide range of vulnerabilities render singularly manual and singularly automated control systems unsafe, whether they are onboard the vehicle or controlled by an external ground based control source. For example, an onboard system may malfunction or a pilot or other unauthorized crewmember may usurp control of the vehicle for unauthorized uses. Additionally, complete reliance on ground based controls would subject the passengers to the vulnerabilities associated with a loss of transmission, unauthorized electronic control of ground systems through hacking, or authorized ground based controls intentionally using the vehicle for unauthorized purposes. Accordingly, the public would greatly benefit by an invention that provides for a customizable system of redundant checks and balances between manual and automated navigable control systems.